The best free games out there

[Spoo]

What are the best games you've played that you can download/get for free?  For me, it has to be:

Carcassone - Xbox 360 Arcade
Wolfenstien: Enemy Territory - PC

 

[mawk]

Cave Story - Mac/PC

It's my favourite in so many ways. Though it uses old-style 8-bit graphics, the pixel art is top notch, and the world is no less lush than it would have been at a higher resolution. The controls are amazingly tight, and the weapons system is engaging and unique. On top of all this, the plot itself is great, and the two converging "hard" and "easy" paths that can be taken based on ingame decisions give it a good deal of replay value. Given the choice between most current-generation console games and Cave Story, I'd have to pick Cave Story.

 

[Yggdrassil]

I agree with Miek here. Cave Story is by far the greatest free game I have every played. Great story, characters, weapons, the graphics fit well with the game, etc. If you haven't tried it yet, you have to go download it immediatly.

And the amount of secrets there are... I mean, there's a whole secret final level, with a secret uber-boss! And tons of weapons, I mean tons, each with their own rate of fire, and abilities, and level up techniques. And all of the boss fights give you a nice challenge, without being overly powerful (last boss being a possible exception) so their's a good feeling of balance. This game is great. As Miek said, given the choice between most current-generation console games and Cave Story, I'd have to pick Cave Story.

Misery and Balrog rule!

 

[Marcus]

La-Mulana.  It's basically a fan tribute to Maze of Gallious (which wasn't even that good) but it's one of the longest (and hardest) platformers I've played.  I finally beat at 47 hours. 

It also has a kickass soundtrack. 

 

[Despain]

I just downloaded La Mulana because I trust your judgement when it comes to games. Unfortunately it isn't working for me, it doesn't seem to respond at all to any buttons I press.

Best free games? Cave Story, motherfucker.

 

[Marcus]

I just downloaded La Mulana because I trust your judgement when it comes to games. Unfortunately it isn't working for me, it doesn't seem to respond at all to any buttons I press.

Best free games? Cave Story, motherfucker.

Controls

arrow keys: move
ctrl: weapon
shift: sub weapon
F1: Pause
F2-4: menu screen

How is this difficult?

But honestly, La-Mulana is designed for people who grew up playing those masochistic vidya gayms where there was no ingame help and you had to figure out what all the items did by experimentation.  It took me an hour to figure out how to save the game and even then you have to have the money to buy the item that lets you save.  The first 2-3 hour stretch is essentially one of the longest learning curves in vidya gaym history but once you start collecting power ups and learning how the puzzles work, the game actually gets easier and more fun (but it's still pretty tough).

Yeah, definitely not the game for even a large majority of platform fans but if you love the ORIGINAL Castlevania games (not the gay metroidvania stuff) and if you love Metroid (the original NES super hard metroid) then you'll enjoy La-Mulana.

EDIT: I have a huge folder of indie games that I play.  I think I'll make an appropriate post full of info and stuff tomorrow.

 

[Despain]

I couldn't get past the title screen.

 

[tensuke]

And all of the boss fights give you a nice challenge, without being overly powerful (last boss being a possible exception) so their's a good feeling of balance.

Fuck that, Monster X was impossible. Took me over an hour to beat, which for 1 boss, is too long.

 

[Tohsaka]

Pong, nothing beats pong.

 

[kaidus]

Mods. Not entirely free as you need the base game (examples include hl2dm, bf2, ut3), but once you've spend £30 or whatever on the game (Cheaper now by far for the older ones) there's a vast wealth of free games at your disposal. I've racked up over 1500 hours on one particular hl2dm mod alone.